Arcadia

Temple Siege

Shirayuki stepped back, feeling the effects of the feedback from the spell. 

"Hmm, my guess was right. There's something up with you, and even I don't know what it is."

The spirit inhabiting Yukiko's body shrugged and walked towards the door. "Well, that's it for now. Let's see each other again tonight. I'm sure we'll have one hell of a time."

Yura, still just half-conscious, tried to put everything together. 

Memory Lock? What does she mean? That someone tampered with my memories?

The door shut as Shirayuki exit the room, leaving Yura alone with those two guards again.

~~~~~

Meanwhile, Ren clumsily hurried through the next part of the temple corridors. He started walking up a spiral staircase towards his next destination, wherever that may be. 

"Yuki-tan just ran off and left me behind. Now, I don't sense her presence anywhere. Dammit!"

His ears picked up something and he quickly stuck to a wall. Tremors were felt and a mass of cultists quickly ran past him at the lower levels. 

"Everyone, get ready to defend!" 

"We can't allow our lord's revival to be interrupted!"

Ren ignored those and proceeded upwards. "At least that's a lot less people to worry about. I don't think I can handle a major fight in this condition anyway."

Ren got to the upper level after traversing the spiral staircase and saw a wooden door in front of him. He placed his left hand on the center of the door and pushed with what strength he had. He stumbled forward and found himself in a dark, closed-off room. The closed-off room was dark and unfurnished. Several huge chunks of rock litter the room, and everything looks rough, besides a wide area with a floor mat.

In the middle of the room was a golden statue of a long-haired woman in a kimono. She had her left hand raised up, and on top of it, a frosted globe. On her other hand, she had a representation of magic energy. she stood on a flat triangle, with a sun, a moon, and a star engraved on its corners. The light from the floor illuminated the large statue, and that was the only part of the room well-lit. 

"Is this the Shirayuki that Xenon was talking about?" Ren touched the statue, and it gave out a slight burst of energy. "She looked quite elegant, I'd say."

"I'm glad to hear you compliment our coming savior!"

Ren frantically looked around for the source of the voice. He felt his eyes widen as a chunk of rock broke apart in front of him and soon flew towards him. With no time to activate a shield, he had to dodge the attack physically. 

"However, you are still an intruder and must be pacified." With that, Lillian appeared in front of Ren, having been the one who attacked him. "How are you liking my invisibility magic? I wanted to finish you with a sneak attack, but where's the thrill in that?"

"Looks like I don't have a choice." Ren slowly got up to his feet and created a wall of talismans. 

"How long can you last? You don't seem to be included in my type of men. I won't go easy on you then."

Lillian charged a shockwave on her arm and shot it towards Ren's magic wall, creating ripples of magical energy as it collided. The effect was some magical energy striking the room's door, breaking it to bits. Ren planted his feet on the ground, but was pushed back by the continuous barrage of shockwaves from Lillian. 

"Tch! She's too relentless. I can fight back, but it will be too risky."

Lillian laughed as she continued her barrage of attacks, when she heard a clear sound of a bullet. It struck her right on the heart, and she fell down on one knee holding her chest.